“My seminary was eager to have a priest who could speak Spanish” #BaseLangStories

With the aspiration to minister to both the English- and Spanish-speaking communities in Pittsburgh, Peter complemented his seminary studies by joining BaseLang’s Real World program. Let’s have Peter share his story on how learning Spanish has enabled him to build relationships with new people from all over the world.

BaseLangStories series puts the spotlight on BaseLang students – asking them about their motivations for learning a foreign language, what impact learning Spanish has had on their lives, advice they have for fellow students, and more.

1. What’s your name and where you are from?

Peter Mallampalli. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

2. Why did you want to learn Spanish?

I am studying to be a Catholic priest, and I wanted to be able to minister to all the native Spanish speakers in my city. My boss at my seminary was also very eager to have a seminarian who could speak Spanish.

3. In the past, what did you use to learn Spanish?

I had taken years of Spanish classes in high school and two semesters in college, but I never was able to hold any length of conversation or understand native speakers if they started talking to me.

4. Before BaseLang, which part of learning Spanish did you struggle with the most?

I struggled in just about every area. I had a very small vocabulary, could not speak beyond introducing myself, couldn’t understand others when they started speaking at a normal pace, constantly messed up conjugations of verbs and had to stop and translate in my head before saying anything.

5. What obstacle would have prevented you from signing up for BaseLang before?

The only reason why I did not start BaseLang sooner was that I didn’t know about it. As soon as I had heard about it from a YouTuber that I watched, I did my research on the program and asked my seminary if they would let me sign up.

6. What did you find as a result of signing up?

Not only did I find that I could become a proficient Spanish speaker, I also realized how fun and interesting learning a new language could be. The BaseLang Real World program has opened so many doors for me within the ministry and has allowed me to form relationships with people that I normally would never have the chance to interact with.

Peter with some members of his Spanish-speaking community.

7. What specific feature did you like the most about the Real World program?

I really enjoyed the flexibility that the Real World program offers and the fact that it teaches you the things that you need to know in order to become conversational in the language without spending hours doing worksheets or writing out conjugations. You learn real Spanish in BaseLang as opposed to the curriculum that is typically taught in most high schools and universities.

I feel like BaseLang is the kind of program that actually produces real results for the work that you put in.

8. How has learning Spanish impacted your life?

Learning Spanish has helped me in so many different ways. It has opened new doors for me in terms of the work that I do, as someone studying to be a priest. It has given me a deeper sense of self confidence in my own abilities to learn new languages and cultures. Finally, it has given me the tools to meet new people from all around the world and network with people from all different walks of life.

Peter, ready to minister to his community.

9. Would you recommend this course, if so, why?

I cannot recommend this course enough! I studied for years in academia and came out with nothing to show for the work that I had put in. In just a few months of using this program, I was already far beyond the level that I ever thought I could achieve. This program is extremely affordable, flexible in scheduling, diverse in the professors and teaching styles that it offers, easy to use for any level of Spanish, and super effective in helping people become proficient in the Spanish language.

10. Complete the following sentence “After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that…..”

After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that learning Spanish was a very real possibility, and I could not get enough of what the program had to offer.

11. Anything else to add?

After using the program for almost a year, there is some advice I would give to new students. First of all, take advantage of the unlimited classes! You will get out of BaseLang whatever you put in, so sign up for as many classes as your schedule permits! I started in the summer when I did not have as many responsibilities, so I was able to do about two or three hours of classes every day for the first couple months. When I returned in the fall to seminary, I still tried to take at least one hour each day.

Also, do not use English! It will be very uncomfortable at first, but the professors are trained to help people (like me) who could barely string a sentence together and bring them to a conversational level.

Finally, have lots of conversations! The grammar aspects are helpful, and memorizing vocabulary is important, but these things are of no use if you cannot use them in conversations. All the professors I have had are very friendly and are able to have interesting conversations with anyone.